Nobel Medals Command High Prices at Auction, Yet Some Fail to Sell
Nobel Prize medals have become valuable items at auctions, fetching millions of dollars in recent years. The most notable sale occurred in 2022 when Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov auctioned his Nobel Peace Prize. He raised a record-breaking $103.5 million to support Ukrainian child refugees affected by the conflict.
Historic Sales of Nobel Medals
Other Nobel laureates have also sold their medals for substantial sums. In 2014, James Watson sold his medal for over $4 million. Watson received the Nobel Prize decades earlier for co-discovering the structure of DNA. Francis Crick, who shared the prize with Watson, sold his medal for over $2 million in a separate auction.
Carlos Saavedra Lamas, a former foreign minister of Argentina, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936. His medal sold for $1.1 million in 2014, demonstrating the enduring value of these awards.
Medals That Failed to Meet Expectations
Not all attempts to sell Nobel medals have resulted in high returns. In 2019, the medal awarded to John Nash in 1994 for his work in game theory sold for under $1 million. This price fell short of expectations for such a prestigious award.
In 2016, the Nobel Prize medal given to physicist Kenneth Wilson in 1982 failed to reach a minimum bid of $450,000. The auction did not attract sufficient interest, leaving the medal unsold at that time.
William Faulkner's Nobel medal also faced challenges. In 2013, bidding stalled at $425,000, which was below the minimum required price. As a result, the medal did not sell, highlighting the variability in auction outcomes.
Composition and Value of Nobel Medals
Since the 1980s, the Nobel Committee has made the medals from 18-karat recycled gold. This material contributes to their high monetary worth. Auctions have shown a wide range of prices for these medals, from millions of dollars to unsold lots.
The sales reflect both the historical significance of the prizes and the personal stories of the laureates. While some medals achieve staggering sums for charitable causes, others struggle to find buyers at desired prices.
